Hospitality and Promise

Today I’m trying to tie a number of things together, in a few short minutes… covenant, or promise, hospitality, and Treaty Day. Yesterday, I heard a story about a woman who was concerned for her husband during the hurricane. They had lost power and he was dependent on a CPAP machine. She said she prayed…

Spiraling

Thoughts wantingto direct knowingThe way isclearSorrow, regretoverflows my cup. PotentialOptionsOpportunitiesPossibilitiesProspects.Closed. Decisionsmade and spiritlightens, yetthe impossiblestill beckons.Crying,“If only!” Openwhat waswhat iswhat might be. Amen.

Women’s Work!

Somewhere along the way, I absorbed the idea that ‘women’s work’ ie. work in the home, was less valuable than men’s work. It’s no surprise that I internalized this, I was a teenager in the 70s, the age of women’s liberation, readily available contraception and women were entering the workforce at unprecedented rate. I refused…

What Did the Canaanites Think?

Last week, we had several long passages of scripture, this week, we have 9 short verses, except they caused me more internal wrestling than all the verses did the week before. Last week we heard the story of Noah, his family, and the animals sailing in the ark, and then God making a promise to…

Newfoundland: Revisited!

Twenty years ago, I spent eight very long, very challenging, months in Newfoundland. Ever since then, every time someone commented about the friendliness of Newfoundlanders, I inwardly winced because of that experience. Despite one of my best friends from theological school being a ‘Newf,’ I found it difficult to reconcile what everyone told me about…

Thoughts and Prayers Are NOT Enough!

Last night and this morning as I watched the numbers climb in the latest mass shooting in the USA, I couldn’t help but think that there IS a reason that this bad, this horrendous, this EVIL thing keeps happening. The inability, or unwillingness, to take on the powerful gun lobby in the USA.

Call, Conversion, Community

I sat in my study at home yesterday and pictured myself as a parishioner, not necessarily at Stairs, and pondered what I might need to hear on a Sunday morning. As a preacher, I am conscious that most weeks, there are a variety of needs and desires on a Sunday morning, depending on circumstances, personality…